Former Employee Rehire Policy

This Employee rehire policy template is ready to be tailored to your company’s needs and should be considered a starting point for setting up your employment policies.

Policy brief & purpose

Our employee rehire policy defines rules for rehiring former employees. Sometimes, we may find it more beneficial and cost-effective to hire employees we trust who left our company for various reasons. This policy will outline circumstances under which former employees might be rehired and any relevant guidelines.

Scope

This policy applies to former employees who left our company on a permanent basis.

This policy doesn’t refer to any employee who’s on medical, parental or other type of long-term leave.

Policy elements

This policy will not prohibit any former employee from applying to a position. But, it’ll outline in which cases it can consider this employee for rehire.

To be considered for rehire, former employees should have left the company for one of the following reasons:

These employees can apply to a position with the company after a minimum period of [4] months. This excludes employees whose contracts expired. They can ask for a contract renewal immediately and we may consider them.

What employees are ineligible for rehire?

Employees who were terminated for cause or abandoned their job aren’t eligible for rehiring. If there are good reasons why those employees should be rehired, senior management should first approve the decision. ‘Good’ reasons include but are not limited to:

Court decisions that oblige our company to rehire an employee.

Reliable proof that employees’ conduct will no longer be problematic. In this case, our company doesn’t guarantee rehiring but may consider it.

There are two extra eligibility criteria for rehire. Former employees should have:

Employees who accepted a job offer but didn’t show up on their first day won’t be considered for rehire for a period of [6] months. This doesn’t apply if they had serious reasons for not showing up (e.g. medical emergencies).

If our company decides to consider retired employees for rehire, we will check and comply with relevant legal regulations.

Employee status and benefits

Employees who were working for our company for less than [12] months will be considered ‘new hires’ if rehired. New hires are usually expected to undergo hiring and onboarding procedures, partly or entirely.

By contrast, employees who were with the company for longer than [12] months might not have to go through the same procedures as new hires. Their service can be recognized for seniority and specific benefits plans such as stock option and sick leave accrual. Benefit plans remain at our company’s discretion.

For employees to be eligible for those benefits, there’s one condition: they should not have been absent for a period that exceeds their time of employment with our company. For example, if an employee worked for our company for three years but was absent for four years, they’ll be considered ‘new hires.’ If, however, they were absent for only two years, they’ll be eligible for benefits.

At any case, employees who were absent for more than five years are considered ‘new hires.’

Fair decisions

Our company is committed to equal opportunity practices. When hiring, we won’t discriminate according to any protected characteristics.

However, we may give precedence to former employees who apply for positions compared with other candidates. This precedence is reasonable, because former employees know our company better than new external candidates. Among former employees who are considered for rehire, they’ll be no discrimination or unfair disqualification.

Procedure

When an employee applies for a position or contacts our company about rehiring, the following procedure should be followed:

If they are eligible, hiring managers decide whether the employee is qualified for a particular position. If they aren’t eligible, HR department should inform them.

If they’re qualified, hiring managers contact the former employee and make necessary arrangements. These arrangements include (but are not limited to) an interview, a pre-screening test or a direct job offer. If they aren’t qualified, hiring managers should inform them. Eligible former employees may still apply for a different position

At any moment, our company may choose to contact former employees proactively. Their eligibility should be established beforehand.

Disclaimer: This policy template is meant to provide general guidelines and should be used as a reference. It may not take into account all relevant local, state or federal laws and is not a legal document. Neither the author nor Workable will assume any legal liability that may arise from the use of this policy.